


Space Oddity

by artsyongallifrey



Series: Codename Nightmare [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wolverine (Movies)
Genre: Captain America: The First Avenger, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 08:56:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10331051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsyongallifrey/pseuds/artsyongallifrey
Summary: Merida (OC) has been banished by Odin. Inside the heart of a black hole, she finds other creatures like herself and learns that she may not be a mutant after all.Conversations without quotation marks are telepathic.





	

“Take it to the Bifrost!”  
“It’s terrifying.”  
“That’s it. That’s the creature that attacked the All-Father!”  
“She’s the reason the queen was killed!”  
She wasn’t sure if the voices she was hearing were real or just the minds of the people around her. Her body had been rendered completely immobile by whatever Odin had done to her. Every time she tried to move, another surge of pain tore through her. Even when she tried reaching out with her mind, something snapped it back into place.  
It wasn’t until the she felt herself land on a cold, rocky surface that Merida was finally able to move.  
“Fuck,” she groaned.  
She rolled over, her wings slowly unwrapping themselves around her. Her breath slowed as she opened her eyes. The sky was dark and empty. There was no sun or moon to be seen. She rolled back onto her stomach to push herself up.  
“Oh fuck.”  
Every muscle in her body was sore. She pushed herself onto her knees. Her clothes were covered in dust. The ground was rocky.  
What is it?  
One of us, I think.  
It can hear you, Merida responded.  
A figure swooped down from the rocks and landed in front of her. It knelt down, lifting Merida’s face up to its own. A Valkyrie. Not quite like her. Her hair was golden and her eyes a softer blue than Merida’s. She almost seemed to radiate light. Her wings matched her hair.  
“You are one of us,” she murmured. “Yet you are so very different.”  
Merida jerked away. “Where am I?”  
The woman rested a hand on her shoulder. “You are in the Shadow Realm. We were banished here after the war with Jotenheim.”  
“And of course I’ve been lumped in with you lot,” Merida grumbled, rubbing her head. “God, what the hell happened to me?”  
“The All-Father created us; therefore, he has the power to control us.”  
“So he beat the shit out of me?”  
The woman looked at her, confused. “To put it into your terms, yes.” She stood and offered her hand. “Come with me. You must meet Jördis. She will tell you everything.”  
Merida took her hand and pulled herself up. “And you are?”  
“Rúna. And you do not have a name.”  
“I have a name,” she scoffed. “Just not a… Norse-sounding one…”  
“What do you call yourself? Your given name was Abigail, but you have changed it so many—”  
“Forget it, okay? Call me whatever you want.”  
“Only Jördis names us. She was the first and she’s our leader.”  
Merida took a step back. “Okay… you’re sounding a little bit cultish, there.”   
“I’ve frightened you?”  
“Little bit, yeah.”  
“My apologies, sister. Please, walk with me.” Rúna motioned toward a stone structure.  
Inhaling sharply, Merida followed.

Colonel Phillips marched into the office. “Attention!” he ordered.  
Agent Louise Bradley stood at attention. “Sir!”  
“Report, Agent.”  
“Doctor Erskine found another potential test subject, sir,” she answered, handing the colonel a file on top of her desk. “Steven Grant Rogers.”  
The colonel flipped open the file. His eyes widened. “This little runt of a human?”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“Are you joking with me, Agent?”  
“No more than usually, sir.”  
“Are you sassing me now, Agent?”  
“Not intentionally, sir.”  
Colonel Phillips sighed and looked back down at the file. “This has to be mistake. There’s no way this kid could even survive basic training.” He snapped it shut. “Where is he? Where’s Erskine?”  
“In the back with Private Rogers.”  
“He’s already here? Dammit. Erskine!” He started marching forward as the shorter agent made haste to keep up. “Can’t believe he already brought the kid here… Erskine! Dammit, where are you?”  
“Over here, Colonel,” the doctor called.  
“There you are,” the colonel said, coming around the corner into the doctor’s office.   
Erskine was seated at his desk while the young private sat in a chair next to him. “Yes, yes. Here I am. We are discussing the details of his enlistment.”  
The colonel stopped with Louise nearly bumping into him. “There will be no enlistment, doctor. The kid’s got enough health issues to be someone else’s test subject.”  
Rogers, a short, gangly kid, stood up. “Sir, with all due respect—”  
“Sit down, Rogers. I didn’t say you could talk.”  
He sat back down.  
“Colonel Phillips,” Erskine said patiently, “this was my decision. And as I recall, you do not have the option to override this.”  
Phillips crossed his arms. “No, but—”  
“Well, then… how do you say in America…? It is ‘no problem,’ ja?”  
The colonel huffed. “We’re not done talking about this,” he said, wagging his finger at the doctor as he walked out.  
Louise gave a little smile. “I’m so sorry. He’s usually more polite.”  
Private Rogers stood, extending his hand. “We were never introduced. I’m Steve. I mean, Private Steve. Rogers. Private Rogers.”  
The agent shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I know you’ll make America proud.” She turned to Doctor Erskine. “Doctor, may I speak with you for a moment in private?”  
“Of course, Fraulein,” he said, standing. “Excuse me, Steven.”  
She led him back into her office. “What are you thinking?”  
“I do not follow.”  
“I’m sure you think Rogers is great kid, but he’s not cut out for the army.”  
Erskine nodded. “I see. Do you think he is a great kid?”  
“I know he is,” she retorted, lowering her voice. “I can read minds, remember?”  
“I do not forget such things. But I also know he is good. He is very good.”  
Louise sighed as she leaned against her desk, folding her arms. “So. Doesn’t like bullies?”  
He smiled, almost laughing. “He does not like bullies,” he said, emphatically poking her shoulder. “He is the one, Fraulein Louise! I know it.”

Merida was led into an armory, filled with golden armor built for women and even coverings for their wings. She counted twelve sets in total. “How many are you?” she asked.  
Rúna smiled. “There are only twelve of us. But we knew there had to be another when the last star fell.”  
“Valkyries… are born from stars?”  
The blonde nodded. “Yes. Jördis saw the last star fall to Midguard.”  
“And this Jördis is your leader?”  
“She was the first of the Valkyries, so she leads us.”  
“Makes sense,” Merida agreed. She couldn’t get much from Rúna’s mind. The woman seemed to be telling her exactly what she knew. Something didn’t seem right.  
“You do not trust me?”  
Merida frowned. “You don’t ever turn off the mind reading here, do you?”  
“We all live here together, so we should be open with each other. There would not be much to keep secret even if we wished to.”  
“Rúna!” called another woman. A taller, more muscular blonde strode down the stairs into the armory. “Let me have a look at our lost sister!”  
“Jördis, this is Abigail.”  
“Abigail?”  
“No, no,” Merida interrupted. “Not Abigail. Not for a very long time.”  
“Ah, yes, I see your history,” Jördis said, placing her hands on Merida’s shoulders. “My child, it wasn’t your fault.”  
Merida stepped back. “That was over three hundred years ago. I don’t think about it.”  
“It has been that long since your birth?”  
“Yeah, it… you don’t know?”  
Jördis shrugged. “Time does not pass the same way here. Rúna explained to you that we are in the Shadow Realm—”  
“That doesn’t mean anything to me.”  
“No, it does not. Come, walk with me, child.”  
Merida was led through the armory and into a hall lined with stones that had been melted together to form humanoid shapes. Some were marked up and chipped from use as practice dummies.  
“Training?” Merida asked.  
“Yes, we find many ways to keep ourselves occupied in our exile,” Jördis answered. “So tell me, you think differently than we do. Why is that?”  
Merida had to read her mind to understand the question. “You live in a world where magic and science coexist. It’s not like that on Earth. Not anymore, at least. So when Rúna says Valkyries are born from falling stars or you talk about this Shadow Realm, it means nothing to me. I spent over three centuries trying to understand how my powers work by studying science.”  
“I see… well, the Shadow Realm is like… I am seeing that the term ‘pocket universe’ probably works best. We still exist within the nine realms, but we are not a part of them. So time passes differently here. More slowly.”  
“But how could you even get… black holes?”  
“Yes.”  
“We’re inside a black hole?”  
“In your terms, yes.”  
Merida stopped walking, dumbfounded. “That’s incredible. There are so many people who would give anything to see this.”  
“I imagine so.”  
“But wait, if time is slower here… I have to get back. There are things happening and I need to be there—”  
“You could not survive, child.”  
“What?”  
“You could leave, but you would be sent directly into empty space. There is no surviving that.”  
Merida turned away, seething with anger. “No… no, no. I have to get back.”  
Jördis stepped forward, placing a hand on Merida’s shoulder. “My child—”  
“No!” Merida shouted, pulling away and whirling around to face her. “And fuck off with this “my child” bullshit. I don’t care if I’m one of you or not. I’m supposed to be on Earth and as far as I’m concerned, I’m just as human as they are. So do not,” she pushed Jördis back, “assume I want to be one of you.” She stormed out of the hall and back outside.  
Rúna flew in to Jördis’s side. “She does not like it here.”  
“No, she does not. Give her time.”  
“Why does she not look like the rest of us?”  
“I do not know. She understands our power far better than we could expect. Perhaps she can tell us herself.”  
“You could not see it in her mind?”  
“No, she is keeping it shielded from us.” Jördis sighed, turning to face Rúna. “Gather your sisters. We shall name her once she comes back.”

Merida had found an isolated spot on top of a hill. She was kneeling on the ground with her wings folded behind her and eyes closed, trying to reach through space- like she had with the Bifrost- while keeping up a shield around her mind. It felt like telepathic yoga.  
She had felt Jördis prodding her mind and trying to find something about how her powers worked. It struck her that the Valkyries may not be aware of the details of their powers. Then again, the Asgardians didn’t seem to study science separately from magic. If something was of magical origin, it probably did not need much in the way of an explanation. So why not tell them? What was it that was raising a red flag for her? Why couldn’t she trust these women?  
She had to focus. Getting out was more important.  
Her mind pushed past the reaches of the small planet, if it could even be called that. From what she was reading from the others and what she could sense, they seemed to be on a flat mass of rock and debris from space held together by gravity. There was no trace to be found of the wormhole opened by the Bifrost. It was almost as if nothing had ever happened. She did, however, find that the black hole leading to their universe contained a ring-shaped singularity. The only way to leave would be through the exact center of that singularity.  
“You would not make it,” a voice behind her said.  
Merida remained still. “Make what?” she asked, feigning innocence.  
The woman sat next to her. “You seek a passage through the dead star. You would not survive.”  
“Yeah, your fearless leader said something about that.”  
“But you intend to do it anyway.”  
Merida opened her eyes and turned to the woman. This one had bright red hair and green eyes, but still had the same golden wings as the others. “Do it or die trying. Either way, I won’t be here, so why the fuck should I care?”  
The woman nodded. “I understand. I am Alfhildr, by the way. Jördis says you are unnamed.”  
“Sure, yeah,” Merida sighed. “Really, I just change it every few years and move somewhere else. People start to notice the lack of aging after awhile.”  
Alfhildr laughed. “You speak so strangely! But yes, I imagine that the mortals would notice. Tell me, though, how do you look the way you do?”  
“You ladies are awfully hung up on my appearance, aren’t you?”  
The redhead shrugged. “None of us have black wings. They are all gold.”  
“And?”  
“Well, none of us can grow our wings, either.”  
Merida rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t born with them, you know.”  
“I do not know. You keep your mind shielded from us. You do not trust us.”  
“I used to be a spy. We all have trust issues. It comes with the work.”  
“But you have no need for that here.”  
“Then tell me about this place,” Merida said. “How long have you been here?”  
“At least a century, we think.”  
“When were you banished?”  
“During the war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. We rebelled because the All-Father asked us to destroy all life in their realm.”  
“Wait, what?” asked Merida, adjusting her position so that she was facing Alfhildr. “They made it sound like you tried to destroy Asgard.”  
“In the All-Father’s eyes, that was not a lie. He believed that Laufey wished to kill every last Asgardian until he had control of the nine realms. In a fit of rage, he ordered us to wipe them out after they attacked Midgard. We refused, so he banished us.”  
“I can see that happening,” Merida agreed. “But that was well over nine hundred years ago.”  
“Perhaps in your time, it was.”  
“Fucking black holes…” she sighed. “So I’m stuck here because an old man with a throne and a temper decided to lump me together with you lot?”  
“So it would seem.”  
“Great. Fucking great.”

“Name?”  
“Steven Grant Rogers.”  
“Date of birth?”  
“July, 1918.”  
“I need the day, Rogers.”  
“Oh, um, the fourth.”  
Louise gave a little smile, not looking up from the file in her hands as she paced around the small interrogation room. “You’re doing fine, you know that?”  
“I guess so, ma’am,” Steve gulped. “Can I ask you one question?”  
“Of course,” she answered, still looking at the file.  
“When Doctor Erskine said I’d be taking a polygraph test—”  
“Who said anything about a polygraph?” the agent asked as she sat down at the table in front of him. “I don’t think the word was ever used.”  
“It was implied.”  
“Only if you thought so.”  
“Oh. Okay.”  
She closed the file and looked over at Steve. “Where are you from, Rogers?”  
“Brooklyn.”  
“New York?”  
“Is there any other Brooklyn?” he joked.  
She didn’t answer.  
“Sorry.”  
“Any affiliations with Nazis, past or present?”  
“No. Not that I would know of, at least.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes, ma’am.” He took a breath. “Can I ask another question?”  
“Sure.”  
“How do you know if I’m lying without a polygraph?”  
“Because I’m a spy, and spies know when people are lying.”  
Steve shook his head. “There has to be more to it than that. Anybody can learn to tell when people lie.”  
“Are you saying I can read minds or something?”  
“No. Maybe? I don’t know.”  
Louise grinned. “Doctor Erskine is aware that I am capable of… things that most people are not. I helped bring him to America and in the process of doing that, he saw a lot of what I can do.”  
“And Colonel Phillips?”  
“He knows what I need him to know when I need him to know it.”  
“Anyone else?”  
“Peggy Carter. Watch out for her, by the way. She’ll hand you your ass on a silver platter without you realizing she even had it.”  
The young private squirmed in his chair. “I don’t understand.”  
“You like her.”  
“No, I don’t. I mean, I do. But I don’t think… I don’t like—”  
“Relax, soldier.” She stood and opened the door. “You passed, by the way.”  
“I did? Wait, but what about Agent—”  
“Again, relax. Also, treat her like a human being. Girls like that.” She grabbed his arm and lowered her voice. “Also, this Bucky person that’s in your head… be careful who you talk to about that. The military isn’t as open-minded as it ought to be.”  
Steve’s eyes widened, but he nodded. “I don’t know what you mean, ma’am.”  
“Good man,” she said, patting him on the back. “Now go get out there and make your country proud.”

“It’s been several months now,” Rúna observed. “She possesses a temper.”  
“Did you see when she blew the roof off the armory?” exclaimed Skuld.  
Gunnr shook her head. “No. Had I been there, I would have bested her!”  
“You always say that,” Rúna groaned.  
“Yes, but I would have beaten her this time.”  
“Hildr, anything new?”  
“No,” answered the other Valkyrie as she joined the three that were sitting. “She somehow possesses a greater power than any of us here.”  
“What of Alfhildr? She could confront Jördis—”  
“Jördis will not listen!” Gunnr interjected. “We must act without her. Skathi is a lost cause.”  
“You wish to act against my wishes?” Jördis asked, landing next to them.  
The four Valkyries fell silent. Their wings bowed behind them.  
Gunnr stepped forward. “Skathi is truly a Valkyrie. There is no denying that.”  
“Then what is your quarrel with her?”  
“She is hot-tempered and isolated. She keeps her mind shielded from us, even you. None of us have ever done her any wrong, and yet she fights against all of us. Worse yet, she does not reveal her knowledge of her power to you.”  
“Give her time.”  
“We have given her enough time!”  
“Jördis, you know how we feel,” Skuld pleaded. “We cannot allow her to stay here. She simply does not belong.”  
Jördis sighed. “I had hoped to learn from her. She learned so much from her time on Midgard that I thought perhaps she would share her knowledge with us. But it seems that the rest of you lack the patience to wait for her to truly become one of our own. If she is causing you this much grief, then we will do something about her.”  
Merida landed behind Jördis. “Because I’m not here and I can’t speak for myself, is that right?”  
Jördis turned around. “Skathi. We all need to talk.”

Louise tied her hair back as she walked up to the exam room with the nurse. “You said his name was Howlett?”  
“Yes, ma’am,” she answered. “And he would only see you.”  
“Of course he would,” she sighed. “Alright. Thanks, Betty. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”  
“I’ll be here.”  
The agent opened the door to see a muscular man with shaggy hair sitting on the exam table and smoking a cigar. His uniform was tattered and burned, but he wasn’t scarred and did not appear to have any injuries, except for a misshapen right leg.  
“Molly.”  
“Logan. I thought you were done with wars,” she said, shutting the door.  
“Couldn’t stay out of this one, sweetheart. That Hitler bastard has it coming.”  
She nodded. “That is a good reason.”  
“And you’ve moved on from nursing.”  
“Well, I wanted to be a doctor, but there were too many men.”  
Logan shrugged. “Didn’t think that would ever stop you.”  
“It didn’t. Male doctors are boring.”  
“You still haven’t changed,” he laughed, biting his cigar. “It’s good to see you, Moll.”  
“It’s good to see you, too, Logan,” she said, smiling. “So, what do we have today?”  
“Well, doc, it’s my leg, you see,” he jibed, gesturing at the deformed leg. “I broke it and I was knocked out, so it never set right.”  
She knelt down, lightly feeling the misaligned bones. “You’ve had some impressive work done.” She pressed the knot where it had healed. “What the hell did you do?”  
“Fell.”  
“Pretty hard fall.” She looked up at Logan. “You know this will hurt, right?”  
“Can’t hurt more than it did the first time.”  
The agent shrugged. “Okay, then… ready?”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
Applying some telekinetic force, Louise snapped the bone where it had been previously broken. Logan groaned, clenching his jaw and gripping the side of the exam table. She forced the bone back into place, almost causing Logan to wrench himself away. “Hold still, asshole!”  
“Reflex. Sorry,” he gasped. “Can you… do the thing where you make it heal faster?”  
“Hang on,” she replied, placing her hand along the fracture. “In case you don’t remember, this will also hurt, but more like a burning sort of hurt.”  
“Yeah, yeah, I remember.”  
The area around her hand began to glow faintly as the bone fused back together. Logan sniffed, trying to keep from squirming. The pain of the broken bone coupled with the burning sensation around the fracture was close to more than he could handle without shouting.  
“You done yet, Molly?”  
“Just a sec… yeah, okay.” Louise stood and smiled. “You’ll be fine. Go easy for about another half hour.”  
“Can do,” Logan answered, returning the smile. “Now, I need another favor.”  
“Let me guess. A reassignment?”  
“How did you know? Anyway, my old unit is great, but I want more action.”  
“Action?”  
“Yeah, but not just the shooting bad guys kind. I mean getting out there and actually doing something and not just following some old bastard’s orders.”  
Louise sat in a chair across from Logan, smirking. “Have you ever heard of the Howling Commandos?”

All thirteen of the Valkyries were gathered in their makeshift grand hall. Jördis stood silently in front of them. She shook her head, breathing in deeply before addressing the women facing her.  
“My children, today we gather out of a concern for our future, as a clan of warriors and as a sisterhood. The issue you bring before me is not one that I consider lightly. Skathi, our long lost sister, has been returned to us. And yet, after all we have done and attempted to do, she has refused to conform.  
“I now call upon Skathi to recant her ways, or at least provide some defense for her actions.”  
Merida glared up at Jördis, arms crossed. “And what will you do if I refuse?”  
“Then we will be forced to expel you from our world.”  
“And that means?”  
Jördis sighed. “We will send you back from whence you came, through the dead star, which will surely kill you.”  
“Then do it,” Merida challenged, inciting a babble of confusion from the other Valkyries.  
“I beg your pardon?”  
“Do it!” she shouted, running up next to Jördis. “I’m calling your bluff. All of you and your weird-ass little cult. Kill me or don’t. Either way, you’re all a bunch of fucking power hungry cowards.”  
“Skathi!” Jördis gasped.  
“That is not, nor has that ever been my name.”  
“It is the name I bestowed upon you!”  
“I will die before I accept it!”  
“Then you have decided your own fate,” Jördis surrendered. Her wings sagged behind her. “That is all, my children. I shall take care of Skathi myself.”

Louise escorted Logan into a briefing room. Seated at the table long table were seven soldiers and another female agent. One wore a red, white, and blue uniform with a large white star on his chest, and another seated next to him had a navy blue jacket. The rest were dressed in standard green and brown fatigues. A colonel stood at the head of the table as he rambled about an assignment for the group in front of him, but he stopped when he saw the agent walk in with Logan.  
“Colonel Phillips, this is Corporal James Howlett of the Canadian Army,” Louise announced. “He’s been transferred to the Howling Commandos.”  
“Another one?” the colonel groaned. “Fine, fine. Corporal, this is Captain Steve Rogers. You might know him as Captain America?”  
“The USO propaganda guy?” Logan asked, incredulous. He turned to Agent Bradley, gesturing to the group with his cigar. “Is this a joke?”  
The agent glared back. “Captain Rogers is the sole test subject for Project Rebirth and one of the greatest soldiers in the entire United States Army. You said you wanted to do something good and not just follow some old bastard’s orders. This is your shot, Logan. Take it or leave it.”  
Logan raised an eyebrow. “You know I trust you, Molly.”  
“And you can. This is where you want to be. I promise.”  
He shrugged. “Alright. What’s happening? Fill me in,” he said, sitting next to the soldier with an extravagant mustache.  
“Carter, give him the report,” Phillips directed.  
“Yes, sir,” the other agent answered in her British accent as she stood. “We’ve located a Hydra base containing experimental weapons that could give the Germans an advantage. If we take the base, we can keep the weapons out of German hands.”  
“And the weapons will be destroyed, right?” Steve piped up.  
“That’s the idea.”  
“What have they been using to make these?” Louise asked. “I haven’t been able to get into Schmitt’s head, so I’m a bit out of the loop on this one.”  
Agent Carter sighed. “We don’t know.”  
“Whatever it is,” Steve interjected, “it’s not from around here.”  
“Wait, Moll, they know about you?” Logan asked.  
Louise grinned. “Yeah, but just them. You should show them what you can do.”  
“He’s got powers, too?” the man in the navy jacket asked.  
Logan tossed his cigar into the ash tray in front of him. “This stays classified, right?”  
“Right,” Phillips answered. “Show us what you’ve got, son.”  
Logan rested his elbow on the table, making a fist. Three bony claws extended from between his knuckles. “I also heal quickly, if anyone is wondering.”  
“Well, then, that certainly is incredible,” Agent Carter breathed as Logan retracted his claws. “I think we’re finished here. Boys, Howard Stark has new gadgets for you, so you should make your way down to his office once you’ve met our new friend.”  
Steve was the first to greet Logan. “It’s a pleasure to have you on the team. What did Lou call you, again?”  
“He goes by Logan,” Louise answered for him.  
“Thanks, Moll,” Logan retorted.  
“Moll?” Steve asked.  
“Molly,” Louise answered. “Logan and I go way back. I was a nurse in the Civil War.”  
“She found me in a pool of my own blood because she could hear my mind,” Logan added. “My entire regiment was wiped out and I was the only survivor.”  
“And he called me Molly because of Molly Pitcher.”  
Logan laughed. “Yeah. She’d run around taking care of us, then next thing you know, she’d have a musket and be taking down Confederates left and right!”  
Steve nodded, impressed. “It’s a wonder you don’t come out with the rest of us, Lou.”  
Louise folded her arms in front of her. “You’ve got Peggy. You don’t need me.”  
The man with the navy jacket stepped in. “Logan, right?” He extended his hand. “Sergeant Barnes, but everyone calls me Bucky.”  
Logan shook his hand. “Good to meet you, Bucky.”  
“Alright, boys, let’s go!” Peggy called.  
The group filed out of the briefing room. Logan and Louise were the behind everyone else.  
“Are they together?” Logan whispered.  
“Who?”  
“Rogers and Barnes.”  
“No, but they should be,” Louise answered. “But Steve’s also got his eye on Peggy. It’ll be interesting to see what happens between those three after the war.”  
“And you sure you don’t want to fight?”  
“That’s behind me, Logan. I don’t do that anymore.”

Jördis and Merida flew up to the horizon of the black hole, just far enough away that they weren’t pulled in by the gravity.  
“This is it, Skathi. One last chance to recant your ways. Please.”  
“Not happening.”  
“I thought so,” Jördis sighed. She waved her hand. “We must speak quickly. They cannot hear us, but they will notice soon.”  
“What?”  
“There is a shield around our minds so that they cannot hear!”  
“Okay… so what now?”  
“You wanted this.”  
“To leave?”  
“Yes. And you are willing to risk your own life to do so.”  
“Not just to leave. The Earth is important to me. It’s my home. And sure, I may be a Valkyrie, but my place is there. I consider myself to be just as much a human as anyone else on that planet.”  
“You will not survive.”  
Merida gave a little smirk. “I can manage.”  
“And that is where you know something I do not.”  
“So I do.”  
“You will not tell me?”  
“No, because I know what you want to do with that information.”  
“Odin deserves to pay!”  
“And you would make yourself his judge? No. I’m not letting that happen. Not if I can help it.”  
“At least tell me something. Something so that we may learn and grow!”  
“I guess,” Merida sighed. “Think smaller. Learn to create and to put things together.”  
“And that is going to save you now?”  
“Yes. And one day, it will help you leave.”  
“Will it really?”  
“Fucking… yeah, it will, Jördis. I have kept so many things from you, from all of you, but I have never lied. I don’t lie.”  
Jördis watched Merida’s face closely. “I will trust you, but only because it seems that you know more than I.”  
“That’s a fair assessment.”  
“And that is all you will tell me?”  
“It’s all you need to know. That little bit of information will take you very far.”  
Jördis nodded. “Very well. I suppose, then, that this is the end.”  
“For now, yes.”  
“Farewell, Skathi.”  
Merida smiled. “Point me in the direction of Earth, will you? I’d like to go home.”

Louise pulled up a chair and sat herself in front of Steve, straddling the back of the chair. She took a swig from the bottle on the table between them. “Oh god,” she gasped, recoiling from the liquor, “that’s disgusting.”  
Steve remained silent. He kept his eyes low as he stared at the patterns in the wood.  
“You picked a hell of a place to drown your sorrows, Cap,” she said, gesturing to the bombed out pub they were sitting in.  
“Fuck off, Lou.”  
Louise leaned back in surprise. “Really? You’re mad at me?”  
He glared up at her. “Yeah, really. I thought you’d know that. Or maybe you can’t do all the things you say you can.”  
She forced the bottle into the crumbling wall behind him. “I can throw shit around and read minds. I can’t stop people from dying.”  
“But you can heal people, right? You could have been there and caught him and you…” His voice cracked and a tear rolled down his cheek. “He was my best friend. Hell, he was more than that.”  
“I know.”  
“Just try to at least find—”  
“I did, Steve. Please believe me.”  
“Yeah, well, I don’t.”  
Louise sighed, leaning her head forward into the back of the chair. “If I had a dollar for every single time I failed someone, I’d probably rule the world.” She looked back up at Steve. “We all loved Bucky, and I’m really and truly sorry he’s gone. And if you hate me so much, then you’ll never have to see me again.”  
“Fine.”  
She stood. “Fine. Have a nice life,” she answered, pushing the chair away and walking out of the pub. Logan was standing outside.  
“He’ll come around.”  
“No, he won’t.”  
“Hey,” he called, jogging up to her. “Don’t leave us on account of him. Not now.”  
“It’s not just him, Logan.”  
“Then what is it?”  
Louise wiped the tears from her eyes. “The war, all the death… I can’t keep doing this.”  
“You’re doing good things, Moll. You always have.”  
“Bucky died and it’s my fault.”  
“Stop. Come here,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “It’s not your fault.”  
“I could have done something,” she cried. “I want to prevent wars from happening in the first place, not just clean up their messes and sit back while people keep dying.”  
“I know, I know. You’ll get to do that one day.”  
“You’re just saying that.”  
“Nope. You’ll do it, Molly. I believe in you.”  
“Promise?”  
“If you promise to keep trying.”  
“I can do that.”  
“Good,” Logan said, patting her on the back and stepping away. “But you’re not going to stay with us, are you?”  
“No. I’m going back into the field to take out Hydra.”  
“Alone.”  
“Yeah.”  
Logan nodded. “Okay, then. So this is goodbye?”  
“Yeah, Logan. This is it.”  
He held out his hand. “So long, Molly. Find me after the war, okay?”  
She shook it. “Fraunces Tavern?”  
“That’s New York, right? I’ll be there.”  
“I’ll miss you,” she said as she kissed him on the cheek. “Stay safe.”

Merida stayed curled up as tightly as she could. Her force field was large enough for her to fit inside, but the vacuum of space was making it difficult to keep it intact. The air was attempting to force its way out of her lungs, and she could feel her blood vessels swell and threaten to break as the pressure within the force field was barely enough to keep her alive. She focused on keeping the damage to her body to a minimum and let her wings dissolve, which gave her some extra oxygen to keep breathing. The pain was excruciating, an ache that reached every nerve in her body.  
Can I ever leave a weird outer space destination without almost dying?  
Jördis had promised that she was projected in the direction of the Earth, but Merida had no way of knowing how long it would take for her to get there. Hell, she wasn’t even sure how long she’d been floating through space. It felt like days or minutes. Her only focus was on keeping herself alive.  
She kept her eyes shut, despite the knowledge that it wasn’t actually going to keep the blood vessels in them from rupturing; only she could do that herself. Still, it made her feel better.  
After some time had passed, she could hear buzzing voices of minds on Earth. She listened for something familiar, a trustworthy friend or acquaintance. She zeroed in on the first mind she heard and gave herself a little push in its direction, letting gravity do the rest of the work. The air grew warmer around her as she plummeted down through the atmosphere.  
Merida strengthened the force field as she began to fall faster and the air burned around it. Something on her head was also burning. She opened her eyes and saw smoke emanating from little flames in her hair. She panicked and dissolved what was left.  
Looking down, she could see a patch of green getting closer and closer. She felt the mind’s voice become clearer as she began to be able to distinguish actual thoughts. Something about the second world war…  
Logan.  
Of course. That was the only person she still knew she could trust from that time. He had lost his memory nearly forty years ago, but he had relied on her to help him get his memories back. He could help her—  
She crashed into the ground, her force field leaving a sizeable crater in the earth. A few plants and trees were on fire around the crater. She rolled over on her stomach, just as sore as the day she’d landed in the Shadow Realm.  
“Okay,” she rasped. “Where the fuck am I?”  
Logan lived in Canada, or at least that’s what she remembered. This wasn’t Canada. The trees were covered in vines and it was too warm and humid. A white, futuristic building with large windows was only a few hundred feet away. She could hear the alarms going off inside. Probably her fault.  
Merida pushed herself up and immediately fell back down. She had expended so much strength and energy while travelling through space that her own muscles could barely support her. Her skin burned, too. She felt like she might pass out.  
She reached out with her mind for Logan, but couldn’t find him.  
“Fucking… really?” she wondered aloud.  
Either she had missed Canada- by an entire continent- or she had mistaken someone else for Logan. She reached out again and found the mind she had aimed for. Not Logan.  
“Time to find out who our mystery savior is,” she groaned.


End file.
